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Currently, ozone-poor air-masses at high altitude are flowing over Europe. As a result, clearly enhanced values of sunburn-effective UVradiation must be expected in Germany. Today and in the following days, the UV index may reach a value of 5 in northern Germany and up to 7 in southern Germany. Thus, the UV irradiance is much higher than usual at this time of year.

The Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS) will continue to support the World Health Organisation WHO with its expertise in the field of radiation protection. In addition to the existing subject areas such as the assessment of health effects of UVradiation or protection against the radioactive inert gas radon and its decay products, BfS will also be involved in emergency protection and risk communication as a partner of the WHO in the future. In particular, contributions to dose assessment and risk evaluation in nuclear emergencies have been planned.

On the occasion of the seventh anniversary of the Fukushima reactor disaster in March 2011, the Committee for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety of the German Bundestag discussed the topic on 14 March 2018. In a public expert discussion, Dr. Stefan Thomas, member of the German-Japanese Transition Council, reported on the consequences of the reactor disaster and answered questions from the members of parliament.

BfS staff members support the Nuclear Safety Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IBRAE) in the attempt to clarify elevated ruthenium 106 values, which were detected in large parts of Eu-rope at the end of September 2017. At the first meeting of the International Commission of Inquiry in Moscow, the findings of international and Russian experts were presented and discussed in depth. On the basis of these findings, first joint conclusions were drawn.